


Flip Cup

by JennaGill



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 06:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17319425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennaGill/pseuds/JennaGill
Summary: Everlark College AU, for a game of flip cup.





	Flip Cup

**Author's Note:**

  * For [misshoneywell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misshoneywell/gifts).



> Happy birthday lady, thank you for being such a constant inspiration! I hope you were in the mood for a college AU. And thanks to Papofglencoe for editing this from a beach, what a peach!

“Flip Cup, Flip Cup, let’s get fucked up,” Finnick bellowed across the room. “Everyone fist up!”

Katniss scanned her opponents on the other side of the dilapidated ping pong table as they raised their arms.  _Ugh_. They called themselves the ‘Careers,’ like Flip Cup was some kind of vocation. She cast a sidelong glance to her teammates to size up the all-stars and weak links. Being on a team was never part of her plan, but there she was—in a competition with no real winners. Aligned with fellow coeds and waiting for her turn to guzzle cheap beer before flipping over a red Solo cup.

She raised her fist to Cato Hackerman, a senior to her junior status on campus and 2nd floor resident. A wicked grin spread across his face that she couldn’t wait to stamp out. He might have brute strength on his side, but she had speed and agility.

“You’re dead meat, Everdeen. Your ass is mine,” he sneered down at her.

“You wish, Hackerman,” she taunted right back, grinding her knuckles into his.

“Ready, set, GO!” Finnick yelled, and they withdrew their fists.

The foxfaced girl from the 5th floor got her team off to a decent start—better than Glimmer from the 1st floor on the other side of the table. Annie faced off with Finnick from the 4th floor next. Annie got her beer down fast enough, but stumbled on her flip a few times. Finnick finished before her, making way for Johanna to start drinking on his left.

Her sideways glance had ensnared the deep, blue eyes of Peeta Mellark, fellow 12th floor denizen and RA. Peeta broke all the rules by engaging in these shenanigans with the undergrads. He was a graduate student and technically her superior, but she viewed him as an ally on her team. He was holding down the middle position to help make up for the slow starters and setting Katniss up as closer. He gave her a small nod as the wave of excitement rushed his way.

Hoots and hollers filled Katniss’ ears, but her focus was on the chain reaction. Chug. Flip. Chug. Flip. The procession flowed down each side of the table.

Annie finally landed her cup upside down and it was Peeta’s turn. He open his mouth wide, tipping the cup and letting the froth slide into his throat. Peeta’s chapped bottom lip curled around the rim of the cup while his tongue ushered the beer down. His throat bobbed in earnest, draining the cup of its contents while sweat skittered down his skin.

She fixated on his pale eyelashes as he stared down his cup and delicately placed it on the edge of the table. For a moment she let herself remember what those fingers were capable of…fingers that had tugged her braid, tickled her ear, and dug into her hips. She stood transfixed as he landed the cup on his first try and shot Katniss a smile that seems so genuinely sweet that an unexpected warmth rushed through her, making her feel all fuzzy on the inside—more than could be attributed to the shitty beer.

“Fuck you, cup” Johanna yelled and snapped Katniss out of her haze, having trouble landing her cup just so. Thresh from the 11th floor was already chugging on Katniss’ team while Johanna cursed her cup.

“C’mon, Mason,” Marvel hissed, waiting for his turn next to her.

She shot him a dirty look and flipped her cup to land it correctly.

Any further words were lost as Marvel threw his beer down his maw while Thresh started to flip his across the table. Thresh flubbed a few times, and Katniss saw their narrow lead dwindle down. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she prepared for her turn. Thresh landed his on his third try, but by then Marvel had finished.

The race was on between Katniss and Cato, battling it out for the winner. She could faintly hear her team cheering her on as she gulped her beer. Their teammates nipped and howled around them.

_Let the game begin for real_ , she thought. She placed the cup down and spared a glance at Cato, still drinking. She missed on her first flip and cursed herself. As she refocused, she was vaguely aware of Cato using too much power and flipping his cup off the table, sending it astray. He kneeled in the corner of her vision. She adjusted her pressure and landed it perfectly while he was still searching for his cup. They’d won!

Thresh high-fived Katniss while Annie bolted past Peeta to give her a big hug. The foxfaced girl tipped her chin in silent congratulations. Peeta met her eyes in praise for her performance.

“C’mon! We demand a rematch!” Finnick tried to rouse another round, but the groups were already breaking up. Annie clinged to him in resignation for the evening. Katniss eased off to the corner to check her phone.

Peeta shuffled out of the 13th floor lounge without another word.

Katniss caught up to him in the back stairwell of the dormitory. “Are you calling it a night so early? I thought birthday boys were supposed to stay up all night, get wild and whatnot,” she said, stepping down a few risers.

He patted his gut and met her gaze. Heat sizzled in the dark pools of his irises. “I think I’ve had my fill of mountain beer, but there’s something else I’d love to drink tonight.”

Her face flamed with possibilities, and she caught his lips as he leaned in. Her nose wrinkled at their sour beer breath that dissolved with a few strokes of his tongue.

They stumbled backward until her back hit the wall. She needed something to ground her before his kisses sent her spinning. She latched onto his t-shirt, pulling him closer and hitching her leg around his hip. She could feel his growing interest.

“We’ll get caught here,” she whispered, breathless between kisses. “And besides…there’s things I want to  _do_  to you.”

“Oh Katniss…it’s  _my_  birthday, so that means I get to call the shots,” he purred.

 


End file.
